People still jailed as 2010 law for fines payment by instalment not implemented

People are still being imprisoned for non-payment of fines because legislation first passed five years ago to allow payment by instalment has not yet been implemented.

Independent Senator Jillian van Turnhout said 8,987 people were imprisoned for non-payment of court-ordered fines in 2014.

The 2010 Fines Act allowed for payment by instalment but has not been commenced or implemented. The Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 also allowed for instalment payment but that legislation had not been implemented either, she said.

Ms van Turnhout said “it is simply absurd that five years after the Fines Act introduced a payment by instalment mechanism, the Courts Service is still unable to progress the facility and there are nearly 9,000 commitals a year as a result”.

Complaint

The Taoiseach’s nominee was backed up in her complaint by Labour Seanad leader

Ivana Bacik

. The Government Senator said “we need to implement the fines Act as a matter of great urgency to ensure people are not being imprisoned for the non-payment of fines”.

It was “extremely disturbing” Ms Bacik said, to see people continuing to be imprisoned for non-payment despite legislation being passed in the Dáil and Seanad “simply because it has not been commenced”.

They were speaking during a Seanad debate on the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill, which provides for courts to make attachment orders for the deduction of earnings or social welfare payments from those who fail to pay debts of €500 to €4,000.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, who introduced the Bill, said the legislation, which has been passed in the Dáil, "made absolutely sure" there was a "comprehensive abolition of imprisonment of debtors", fulfilling a programme for government commitment.

She said the Bill, which the Opposition see as aimed at those who will not pay water charges, applies to creditors such as “small sole traders, subcontractors and other small businesses which have supplied goods and services”.

No provision

But Ms Turnhout said the yet to be implemented Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act made no provision for deduction of fines from social welfare payments but this Bill did.

Consequently, while the Bill was necessary and welcome in many ways, it “has a special interest in ensuring that outstanding water bills can be collected from the ‘refuse to pay’ category in receipt of social welfare”.

Fianna Fáil’s Brian Ó Domhnaill said the self-employed were not covered under the legislation. Employers could fire an employee because of an unpaid bill and there was nothing in the Bill to protect the employee against dismissal.

Sinn Féin’s Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said the Bill added an extra administrative burden on employers to deduct the earnings.